The Open Road
by graygrayskies
Summary: Zack runs away from Boston. Cody gets caught up in all of it. They find London and decide to stay with her in San Fransisco while Cody tries to figure out whether he wants to go home or take a walk on the wild side.
1. Moron

Sorry it's so short. I'm lame and I was kind of making it up as I went along. So yeah.

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Cody's closed eyes kept twitching as he forced them shut and attempted to sleep on a hay stack that made him itchy, even through his long sleeved shirt. The car attatched in the dead center of the train he and his twin brother, Zack had snuck onto was noisy and smelled funny. The memories of the previous day kept coming back to him, so he covered his head with his arms as if it helped.

Zack sat opposite the car, watching Cody's efforts, in an uncomfortably mortified way. He wasn't planning on dragging Cody into his big plan to run away, but somehow that's how things ended up and he wasn't sure if he was obliged to have company or aghast to put his little brother through all the peril they would soon go through. He decided to calm down. It wasn't his fault that Cody followed him, besides Cody was the smart one. He would know how to keep their tracks hidden from their mother or father or anyone else going after them.

With all the excitement, Zack found it hopeless to try to sleep. "So, what are you going to do now?" he piped up, making Cody stir. He wanted to know if he was going to get ratted out or not.

Cody glared at his brother, "What do you think I'm going to do? Once this stupid train stops, I'm going to find my way back to Boston and then I'm going to..." he froze and looked out the gaping door with the scenery flying by quickly, "I don't know what I'm going to do after that."

A stupid idea popped in Zack head, "Why go back? Why don't you come with me?" in an instant, it looked like Cody considered it, but his brow furrowed again and he shook his head violently.

"Why should I let myself get dragged down with you? You know Mom is going to blow a vein in her head!"

Zack nodded. _'I thought of it more as a bonding... trip or something.'_ he thought. What was the use of saying it outloud when he knew that Cody would just call him a moron. His wanting to run away was renewed and he dozed off easier than Cody did.


	2. Two feet thick

**Disclaimers and such:** I always forget about this. I don't own 'em.

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**ONE MONTH AGO.**

Zack stared at himself in the foggy mirror in the bathroom after taking a long shower. He looked more tired than usual, though he'd had more than ten hours of soundless sleep the night before. He had gotten himself in a rut and hadn't gone outside the hotel, or even the suite in quite sometime. Save school. Everything was getting boring in Boston, even the people and everyone took his restlessness as a craving for attention, which fueled his exasperation even more.

He looked down at the faucet running cold water, wondering what he could do to change things, but nothing seemed to spring to mind. He wasn't like the other kids. It wasn't like he was an angsty, emotional wreak on the inside. Zack was still the same old insensitive jerk he was when he was a kid. That was probably another thing that bothered him, but being Zack, he couldn't figure it out. He wanted to be more intellectual, more likeable, more darling, more like... Cody. He shuddered. "Like I'd want to be a huge dork..." he said to himself, trying to reason with his altered notion.

There was a knock on the door, which made him jump. "Zack? Are you okay?" came his mother's voice from the other side. She sounded worried, "You haven't come out of the bathroom in almost two hours." she paused, "Do you need me to get you more toilet paper?"

"I'm fine, Mom!" he groaned after he thought she moved away from the bathroom. Taking one last look at himself, he exited the room and to his room to change.

**NOT ONE MONTH AGO.**

"Zack... Zack, wake up!"

Zack's senses slowly restored themselves to his body. He could have sworn it was all a dream, but when he opened his eyes, the rusted floor and the awful smell filled his nose and sight and he darted up to a sitting position, "C-Cody?" he looked around more, as if to make certain of his mistaken doubts. "Oh, I thought this was all a dream..."

"Well, it wasn't. It's a nightmare!" Cody stood near the open door and pointed, "The train stopped..." Zack half jumped to his feet and half scurried to the door. Cody was right, the train had stopped, but it had not parked at any old train station, it stopped in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that could be seen was dirt and a forest in the horizon and moutains towering over that. Behind them, was water and that was it.

"What? Where are we?" Cody shrugged his shoulders. "Where are you going?" Zack whispered loudly when he spotted his younger brother start to climb off the train.

"I'm going to tell that driver that we snuck on and I'm going to find a way home." Zack grabbed Cody's arm. "Dude, let go!"

"Do you know what will happen to us if we get caught? We'll go to jail!" Zack lied through his teeth, hoping Cody would fall for it. He didn't. Change of reason, "Come on, Cody. Couldn't you just go along with me for once?"

"I always go along with you and you always get me into trouble!"

"We aren't little kids anymore..." Cody shushed Zack when they heard men's voices coming closer. Pulling Cody back inside quickly, they searched desperately for a means of hiding. "Here." Zack said, gesturing Cody to the other side of the train. They scaled the outside of the train and dangled there while the men looked around. Even after they were gone, they both felt it was unsafe to duck back inside.

Cody looked down at the rushing water a few feet below him, "We're gonna die here..." he whispered.

"No we won't." Zack replied.

"Hey, Zack..." Cody motioned toward the next car. It looked much more fancy than the one they were staying in and there was a window standing wide open. "Lets go." They carefully made their way closer until they came to the window, then fell through it. "Ugh... why do you always have to land on me?" Cody whined. Cody followed Zack's awed expression. The whole train car was designed just like a little room. The walls had a very gently, light beige color to them and a darker brown ligned the casement to the window and the frame to the door. Farthest away from them was a bed with a matress that was probably two feet thick and there was a girl with long black hair sleeping apon it.

Zack hesitated for a moment, "Is that... London?"


End file.
